Methadone addicted infant

[grandma67]

Can someone please help me.... I have been going through the forum here and I hear a lot of what I aam going through. My step daughter has been an addict for at least 7 years. She is now 19 gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, addicted to Methadone because she was on heroin and ended up in jail and they put her on it she was 7 months pregnant when she started taking it. The baby is with me his Grandmom and His Grandfather. We have had him since he left the hospital. Now we almost have him wheened off the methadone and mom now at a half way house is wanting to take him from us. He is now 3 months old. I need to know what to look for when he is off completely. I know with every decrease it has been a long hard adjustment. He screams for no reason. He wakes up during the night at least 3 times. He sneezes all the time. He has all the signs now... what am I in for and is it a good idea for Mom to take him? She only sees him 4-6 hours every Saturday, now. That would totally disrupt his schedule and all he is used to. Any suggestions on what to do?????

[RecoveringMandi]

The mother could not quit drugs while pregnant to avoid making life any harder for her baby than life is to begin with, so in my opinion I would not give this baby back to her...someone has to be the child's voice and hopefully you will be just that! The baby will have his grandparents which is better than foster care with a stranger and definately better than being with a "mother" that has already put her needs and wants ahead of her baby's. I was addicted to heroin when I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant with my son...I went home and laid in bed for a week straight, I had to deal with the detoxing and the usual morning sickness and yes I was very sick, in pain and at times felt like I was going to die, but there was no way in hell I was going to drug my baby and make him go through the pain and sickness because I didn't want to! I am not trying to make myself sound like a saint because God knows I'm not, but this is the type of thing Mothers do for their child. I was sick for a week so that he would not have to be sick at all, isn't that my job as a mother? Aren't mothers suppose to keep their child from harm? Be willing to give their own life for their child? If I could do that I know it's possible so I have no patience for these people saying that they CANT quit, that taking methadone is better for the baby than going through withdrawals while pregnant...that is a cop out and total BS! Parents that have babies born addicted should have them taken away immediately and given to a family that is unable to have children of their own, someone who will put the child's needs ahead of their own no matter what!

[wait2long]

the only point i want to make is that i think it is really important for the time being, that this baby stay on a structured routine, for quite a while. i have a handicapped son (not from drugs, and not to say your son is handicapped, i am not implying this at all) but with infants born with ANY type of difficulties, i know how important it really is for this child to have a structured routine with nothing but love and be sure he can get this from his mother, its really important....it really helped my son a lot, and even though now he is 22, he still has this structure, but it comes from him now. he does so well!!! i am very proud of him!!!

[NicuNurse]

I see this was posted a while ago, but I hope this message reachs you anyway.  I am a NICU nurse and see the effects drugs have on infants too often.  It sounds like your grandson has the classic symptoms of withdrawal as you already know.  He does not have the tools to self sooth like other infants do, by the time they are in pain .  withdrawing they have almost lost the capability to respond to comfort measures.  In my experience they cry (that heart wrenching cry) until they tire themselves out and fall asleep finally.  God bless you because I know how hard it is to go through, I can only imagine what it must be like when it is your own.  This will likely continue untill he is completely withdrawn, and methadone is one of the hardest to withdraw from.  Hopefully after that it will seem like the hard times are behind you.  My concern (as it always is in these situations) is shaken baby syndrome.  If your daughter is stressed and has a hard time dealing with things (as many ex-users do)  I would be concerned about letting her care for the baby while he is still going through this.  You know how frustrating that constant shrill cry can be and how helpless you can feel, couple that with someone pushed over the edge - and it only takes a couple of seconds to lose control and harm an infant.  I do not want to scare you but I think you will understand my point of view.  I would also make sure she has everything in place before you hand him over.  Whatever you do, do not let your daughters emotions control the course of your actions.  I am sure you are torn becaue it is her child and she is doing well and wants to foster a relationship with him, but you need to be 200% sure that she is ready and that she can deal with everything that caring for a child means.  Good luck to you and you will be in my prayers.
- NICU RN

[CarrieMe]

I spoke with my doctor a few days ago, she told me I could quit cold turkey if I wanted, but it would be much more painful if I did because I'm pregnant, and I know what it feels like to quit if it's just you, let alone two people, so I'm going on suboxone after today and I will recieve intensive counseling to help keep me clean, three days a week for as long as it takes for me to turn this around. I just realized one day through the haze the drug put on me that this isn't me, that this isn't who I wanted to be, and that I was stronger than this drug, even if it had taken over my life. So the journey begins soon... bring it on!

[mestiza]

Just curious, did you quit? I know that it is not recommended while pregnant cause it can cause a miscarriage. Are you on methadone?

[CarrieMe]

Hello, I don't know if you're still here or not grandma67, but I was browsing through and I noticed your question. I have an interesting viewpoint, I don't know if it will be of help, but I too am 19, and I am addicted to oxycontin. Recently I came to this sight in order to get help because I had been trying to quit since I got pregnant and this drug was still just kicking my *** so to speak. I am over four months pregnant now and I know that when I told my doctor that I was on oxies all she wanted to do was help. But the thing is, I know first hand as I have been trying to quit since before I was pregnant, if you don't really want it, if you arn't totally and completely determined that you are stronger than the drug, then you will just end up caving and doing them again. I know that Methadone is a little different than oxies, but if I am informed correctly they are still opiate based... I think. Anyways, to cut to the chase, it's hard because I don't know your granddaughter, but I know that one day it hit me... If I can't take care of myself, how am i going to take care of this baby? And I fell to my knees and cried and shook and got help. I guess the question I would ask is first, is your granddaughter really and truely clean, is she determined to stay that way, for the rest of her life? Where would the baby be gaurunteed the best life, the happiest life, because every child deserves a fresh start no matter what their parents have done. I am determined to get off this **** before my baby is born, because my child deserves a life better than the one I was headed for. I wanted my baby to have a fighting chance, so I guess the question you have to ask yourself is is she really clean, is she really done with the drug? Is your precious grandchild going to be safe with his mum, is she stable and ready to raise a baby... and only you know her and know how she is... if you have any questions or anything e-mail me, I hope maybe I helped, but I'm afraid my words are a little jumbled in my head today

[Joanne19792001]

Hi,
My son is 2 in Jan and was born while i was on Methadone 120mls. He was showing withdrawal symptoms 2days after he was born and waas given morphine orally to help with the withdrawal. He started on a dose of 0.5mls every 4hrs and over 2wks tapered off this by reducing the no. of times he was given morphime each day, every 4hrs,then every 6hrs, 8hrs,12hrs. my son was allowed home after 10 days and i was visited by one of neonatal nurses at home to see how he was doing every 2 days. We were lucky as after he gotstable on morphine he did notseem to have any problem coming off it. When dose was reduced he showed no withdrawal symptoms and even when it was stopped he seemed ok. It was really hard for me knowing i had caused him to suffer but i am happy to say he is a really healthy little boy and hasnot had any health problems. When he was born he had very low bllod sugar levels for first few days as i am diabetic and was also 4wks early so dr's said that he wouldn't have needed to stay in hospital as long normally but because he had to be fed every 3hrs untill his sugar levels became normal he was kept in longer to monitor him. I hope your grandson is ok.Let us know how he is doing.

[mestiza]

Oh my god! you just brought back a terrible time in my life. I have a 10 year old son whom i had while on methadone. He is fine and healthy and so intelligent, a bit moody at times but other than that ...just perfect.  After i had him he had to stay in the hospital for 2 weeks.  They detoxed him with phenobarbital.  when i finally brought him home they gave me a prescription for his phenobarbital, i noticed that he would try to open his little eyes and they would flutter.  I realized that they had him on to high off a dose, so i gave him half of what they said and noticed a difference.I gave less and less for a couple of days then he was fine. i am surprised to hear that they actually prescribed methadone for him?  Maybe since i started treatment at about for months pregnant, maybe that made a difference, also i stayed at the lowest dose possible which was around 27 mgms.  thank god the baby has you and grandpa.  As far as his mom is concerned, babies do belong with their moms, unless their moms dont have their stuff together. Like why did she wait seven months to get on methadone? well regardless nothing can be done about that. Is she wanting to take him from you now and she is still in a halfway house?  You are right about disrupting his schedule.  Can't she wait till at least she has been released from the halway home?  My heart goes out to you all. Any questions i can anwer, please e mail me

[avisg]

hello,
i commend you for all of the help you have given your grandson. I assume you are working with a doctor ? They should be able to tell you what to look for when he is completely weaned off.
It really is  not abnormal for a three month old to sneeze a lot or for that matter wake three times a night .
What arrangement did you make with the mom for when she got out of the half way house, how long has she been clean?  would she be willing to work with you to make the transition to her home .Keeping her son on the same schedule you have already provide  him with. I really hope you can all work together to do what is best for your grandson.
avis

[IBKleen]

Hi Hun! Glad to see you made it.

I don't have much experience with Methadone. Others here do so please be patient. It is a holiday weekend and it is slow.

It sounds as though the baby is going through withdrawal. The sneezing is an indication as well as the sleeplessness. What do the doctors say?

I don't know what to say about his mom taking him. It seems very soon and like you said, he is on a schedule now and needs to adhere to it. I don't know if you have temporary custody? There are so many variables.

Please stay here and wait to here from others. Take care.